Groups Ramp Up Pressure on Key Senators Ahead of Citizens United Vote

Powered by over 3,000,000 petitions, activists from national and local groups are holding rallies at Senate offices this week urging Senators to back a constitutional amendment to curb money in politics

WASHINGTON, DC — Just days before the Senate is set to vote on a joint resolution that would amend the Constitution and overturn decisions like Citizens United, activists representing nationwide and local organizations are pressing key senators to vote in favor of the amendment and rein in spending by corporations and billionaires. The activists are targeting both Democrats and Republicans who have yet to state their support for the Democracy For All constitutional amendment. So far, fifty senators support the amendment (S.J. Res 19), which would establish that Congress and the states have the power to regulate and limit election spending.

With help from advocacy groups including Public Citizen, CREDO, MoveOn.org Political Action, People For the American Way, Common Cause, Progressive Democrats of America, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, local constituents are holding rallies and delivering hundreds of thousands of petitions to their respective senators today urging them to support the amendment and end the corrosive influence of big money on our political system. The deliveries are happening at the offices of Senators Mitch McConnell, John McCain, Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Mary Landrieu, Joe Donnnelly, Mark Pryor, Mark Kirk, Lisa Murkowski, and Kelly Ayotte.

The vote comes as the election season is heating up and outside spending from wealthy special interests pours in. According to a recent report from the Brennan Center, nine competitive Senate races have already seen $72 million worth of independent expenditures even as the election is still months away.

Polling has shown that an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, and sixteen states and more than 550 cities and states have formally demanded that Congress vote to pass a constitutional amendment making it clear that corporations do not have the same rights to spend money on elections and that money is not speech. Dozens of organizations nationwide have also collected approximately 3 million signatures calling for Citizens United to be overturned.

“There is incredible grassroots momentum to overturn decisions like Citizens United,” said Marge Baker, executive vice president of People For the American Way. “The American people don’t like the way big money is corrupting our democracy, and activists across the country are working hard, every day, to change it. The growing energy shows that this is only the beginning of the push to make the Democracy for All Amendment our Constitution’s 28th Amendment.”

“Next week, on Sept. 8, 100 senators will face a stark choice: vote to restore our democracy or preserve an emerging plutocracy,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. “It’s overwhelmingly clear what the citizenry wants: Fed up with a system in which the super-rich and giant corporations are effectively able to buy politicians and policy, the American people are rising up and demanding a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and restore our democracy. Whatever happens on September 8, the day is not long off when the 28th amendment becomes the law of the land.”

“Citizens United isn't just one of the worst Supreme Court decisions ever—it's also one of the least popular among the American public,” said Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn Civic Action. “MoveOn members across the country are encouraging their senators to take historic action to undo this attack on our democracy, and they'll hold accountable senators who block efforts to overturn Citizens United.”

“Contrary to what Republicans and even some Democrats believe, corporations aren't people,” said Becky Bond, CREDO’s Political Director. “If we want to keep our democracy, we must overturn Citizens United, and the road to a constitutional amendment starts in the Senate.”

“Americans are rightly appalled by the billions of dollars from corporations and wealthy individuals that Citizens United and McCutcheon unleashed in our elections,” said Miles Rapoport, President of Common Cause. “The Democracy for All constitutional amendment would reverse these decisions and permit Congress and the states to restore common sense limits on political spending; it would allow every voice -- not just the voices of big donors -- to be heard in our elections.”